Saturday, December 15, 2012

Authorities have released the names of the 26 victims killed when a gunman opened fire inside a Connecticut elementary school.

All six adults killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School were women. Of the 20 children who were shot to death, eight were boys and 12 were girls. All the children were ages 6 or 7.

Below is the list released by Connecticut State Police.

-- Charlotte Bacon, Female, 02-22-06

-- Daniel Barden, Male, 09-25-05

-- Rachel Davino, Female, 07-17-83

-- Olivia Engel, Female, 07-18-06

The images of Olivia Engel will live far beyond her short lifetime. There she is, visiting with Santa Claus, or feasting on a slice of birthday cake. There's the one of her swinging a pink baseball bat, and another posing on a boat. In some, she models a pretty white dress, in others she makes a silly face.

Dan Merton, a longtime friend of the girl's family, says he could never forget the child, and he has much to say when he thinks of her.

"She loved attention," he said. "She had perfect manners, perfect table manners. She was the teacher's pet, the line leader."

On Friday, Merton said, she was simply excited to go to school and return home and make a gingerbread house.

"Her only crime," he said, "is being a wiggly, smiley 6-year-old."

-- Josephine Gay, Female, 12-11-05

-- Ana Marquez-Greene, Female, 04-04-06

A year ago, 6-year-old Ana Marquez-Greene was reveling in holiday celebrations with her extended family on her first trip to Puerto Rico.

The girl's grandmother, Elba Marquez, said the child's family moved to Connecticut just two months ago, drawn from Canada, in part, by Sandy Hook's pristine reputation. The grandmother's brother, Jorge Marquez, is mayor of a Puerto Rican town and said the child's 9-year-old brother was also at the school, but he escaped safely.

Elba Marquez had just visited the new home over the Thanksgiving holiday and finds herself perplexed by what happened.

"It was a beautiful place, just beautiful," she said. "What happened does not match up with the place where they live."

-- Dylan Hockley, Male, 03-08-06

-- Dawn Hochsprung, Female, 06-28-65

Dawn Hochsprung's pride in Sandy Hook Elementary was clear. She regularly tweeted photos from her time as principal. Just this week, it was an image of students rehearsing for their winter concert.

She viewed her school as a model, telling The Newtown Bee newspaper in 2010 that "I don't think you could find a more positive place to bring students to every day." She had worked to make Sandy Hook a place of safety, too, and in October, the 47-year-old Hochsprung shared a picture of the school's evacuation drill with the message "Safety first."

When the unthinkable came, she was ready to defend. Officials said she died while lunging at the gunman in an attempt to overtake him.

"She had an extremely likable style about her," said Gerald Stomski, first selectman of Woodbury, where Hochsprung lived and had taught. "She was an extremely charismatic principal while she was here."

-- Madeleine F. Hsu, Female, 07-10-06

-- Catherine V. Hubbard, Female, 06-08-06

-- Chase Kowalski, Male, 10-31-05

Chase Kowalski was always outside, playing in the backyard, riding his bicycle. Just last week, he was visiting neighbor Kevin Grimes, telling him about completing -- and winning -- his first mini-triathlon.

"You couldn't think of a better child," Grimes said.

Grimes' own five children all attended Sandy Hook, too. Cars lined up outside the Kowalski's ranch home Saturday, and a state trooper's car idled in the driveway. Grimes spoke of the boy only in the present tense.

-- Jesse Lewis, Male, 06-30-06

-- James Mattioli, Male, 03-22-06

-- Grace McDonnell, Female, 11-04-05

-- Anne Marie Murphy, Female, 07-25-60

A happy soul. A good mother, wife and daughter. Artistic, fun-loving, witty and hardworking.

Remembering their daughter, Anne Marie Murphy, her parents had no shortage of adjectives to offer Newsday. When news of the shooting broke, Hugh and Alice McGowan waited for word of their daughter as hour by hour ticked by. And then it came.

Authorities told the couple their daughter was a hero who helped shield some of her students from the rain of bullets. As the grim news arrived, the victim's mother reached for her rosary.

"You don't expect your daughter to be murdered," her father told the newspaper. "It happens on TV. It happens elsewhere."

-- Emilie Parker, Female, 05-12-06

Fighting back tears and struggling to catch his breath, Robbie Parker, Emilie's father, told the world about a little girl who loved to draw and was always smiling, and he also reserved surprising words of sympathy for the gunman.

"She was beautiful. She was blond. She was always smiling," he said.

To the gunman's family, he said, "I can't imagine how hard this experience must be for you."

He said he struggled to explain the death to Emilie's two siblings, 3 and 4.

"They seem to get the fact that they have somebody they're going to miss very much," he said.

Parker said his daughter loved to try new things -- except for new food. And she was quick to cheer up those in need.

"She never missed an opportunity to draw a picture or make a card for those she around her," he said.

The world is a better place because Emilie was in it, he said.

"I'm so blessed to be her dad," he said.

-- Jack Pinto, Male, 05-06-06

-- Noah Pozner, Male, 11-20-06

-- Caroline Previdi, Female, 09-07-06

-- Jessica Rekos, Female, 05-10-06

-- Avielle Richman, Female, 10-17-06

-- Lauren Rousseau, Female, 06-?-82

Lauren Rousseau had spent years working as a substitute teacher and doing other jobs. So she was thrilled when she finally realized her goal this year to become a full-time teacher at Sandy Hook.

"It was the best year of her life," her mother, Teresa Rousseau, told the Danbury News-Times, where she is a copy editor.

Rousseau has been called gentle, spirited and active. She was a lover of music, dance and theater.

"I'm used to having people die who are older," her mother said, "not the person whose room is up over the kitchen."

-- Mary Sherlach, Female, 02-11-56

When the shots rang out, school psychologist Mary Sherlach, 56, threw herself into the danger.

Janet Robinson, the superintendent of Newtown Public Schools, said Sherlach and the school's principal ran toward the shooter. They lost their lives, rushing toward him.

Even as Sherlach neared retirement, her job at Sandy Hook was one she loved. Those who knew her called her a wonderful neighbor, a beautiful person, a dedicated educator.

Her son-in-law, Eric Schwartz, told the South Jersey Times that Sherlach relished helping children overcome their problems. She had planned to leave work early on Friday, he said. In a news conference Saturday, he told reporters the loss was devastating, but that Sherlach was doing what she loved.

"Mary felt like she was doing God's work," he said, "working with the children."

-- Victoria Soto, Female, 11-04-85

She beams in photos. Her enthusiasm was evident. She was doing, those who knew her say, what she loved.

And now, Victoria Soto is being called a hero.

Though details of the 27-year-old teacher's death remain fuzzy, her name has been invoked again and again as a portrait of selflessness and humanity among unfathomable evil.

A cousin, Jim Wiltsie, told ABC News that investigators told his family she was killed while shielding her students from danger. She reportedly hid some students in a bathroom or closet, ensuring they were safe.

"She was trying to shield, get her children into a closet and protect them from harm," Wiltsie told ABC. "And by doing that, put herself between the gunman and the children."

Soto's goal was simply to be a teacher.

"She lost her life doing what she loved," Wiltsie said.

Photos of Soto show her always with a wide smile, in pictures of her at her college graduation and in mundane daily life. She looks so young, barely an adult herself. Her goal was simply to be a teacher.

"You have a teacher who cared more about her students than herself," said Mayor John Harkins of Stratford, the town Soto hailed from and where more than 300 people gathered for a memorial service Saturday night. "That speaks volumes to her character, and her commitment and dedication."

Friday, December 14, 2012

I've been thinking about what happened today, but I can't think of anything to say.

So I am going to quote President Obama.

"The majority of those who died today were children — beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years old. They had their entire lives ahead of them — birthdays, graduations, weddings, kids of their own. Among the fallen were also teachers — men and women who devoted their lives to helping our children fulfill their dreams."

"So our hearts are broken today — for the parents and grandparents, sisters and brothers of these little children, and for the families of the adults who were lost. ..."